Nicknamed the Grand Canyon State, Arizona entered the Union on
February 14, 1912, as the forty-eighth state. It is the sixth-largest state in
terms of size, with a total boundary length of 1,478 miles (2,379 kilometers). Arizona lies in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States
and is bordered by Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico, and
Mexico.
It is believed that the region now known as Arizona was inhabited
by several cultures by 500 C.E., including the Anasazi, Mogollon, and
Hohokam. These cultures were in decline by the fourteenth century for
reasons unknown even in the twenty-first century. When the first
Europeans arrived in the sixteenth century, they found native populations—the oldest of which were the Hopi—living a hunter-gatherer
lifestyle in the river valleys.
Arizona was a largely peaceful territory, even when Mexico revolted
against Spain in 1810. When the Mexican-American War (1846–48)
broke out in 1846, two U.S. armies marched across the Arizona region.
The California Gold Rush in 1849 also brought thousands of
Americans through the region. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln
(1809–1865; served 1861–65) signed the Organic Act of Arizona, which
created the new Territory of Arizona.
Arizona is largely desert and has a dry, hot climate. The northern region of the state includes the Grand Canyon, a vast gorge more than 200
miles (320 kilometers) long, up to 18 miles (29 kilometers) wide, and
more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) deep. This same region boasts the
Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, and Humphreys Peak, the highest
point in the state at 12,633 feet (3,853 meters).
Although Phoenix has air quality poorer than most other U.S. cities,
most of the state is known for its clear air, open lands, and breathtaking
forests. Arizona works hard to protect these resources in the wake of a
growing population and tourist industry.
Population and economy
Arizona once was considered a “retirement” state, where people moved
in their sixties. This is no longer true; only 13 percent of the population
in 2006 was age sixty-five and older. The majority of the population (28
percent) was age twenty-five to forty-four. By far, the largest concentration of the state’s residents (nearly 1.5 million) lived in the capital city of
Phoenix. The next most populated city was Tucson, home to just over
five hundred thousand people.
By the 1970s, Arizona’s agricultural economy had been replaced by
manufacturing, with centers in Phoenix and Tucson. The state’s primary
industries included wood products, computer and electronic equipment,
and transportation equipment. Still, Arizona ranked twenty-ninth in the
nation in terms of agricultural output value in 2005. The state led the
nation in copper and molybdenum production in 2004.
Tourism and travel accounted for more than $13.76 billion in direct
sales in Arizona in 2004, and 27.8 million Americans and another
900,000 international tourists visited the state that year. The state’s
twenty-two national parks and monuments, the most popular being
Grand Canyon National Park, attract millions of visitors annually.